Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla : Biography of a Genius (Citadel Press Book)
Nikola Tesla, credited by many as the inspiration for radios, robots, and even radar, has been called the patron saint of modern electricity. "Wizard" is the definitive biography of this founding father of modern technology of photos .Product Details
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Seifer's vivid, revelatory, exhaustively researched biography rescues pioneer inventor Nikola Tesla from cult status and restores him to his rightful place as a principal architect of the modern age. Based largely on firsthand documents including Tesla's writings, his patents and those of competitors, it credits the Croatian-born Serb, who moved to New York in 1884, with the invention of the induction motor, long-distance electrical power distribution, fluorescent and neon lights, the first true radio tube and remote control, besides making vital contributions to the technology underlying television, wireless communication, robotics, lasers, the facsimile machine and particle-beam weaponry anticipating the space-based "Star Wars" defensive shield. Though often depicted as a recluse, flamboyant nouveau-riche Tesla (1856-1943) lived in Manhattan's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel for two decades, and hobnobbed with architect Sanford White, Mark Twain, Rudyard Kipling, conservationist John Muir, mogul John Jacob Astor III, Swami Vivekananda. Yet the electronic wizard, who competed fiercely with Marconi and with his one-time employer Edison, became swamped in debt, abandoned by a world he helped create, ending his days in seedy poverty, a bitter, anorexic eccentric obsessed with feeding pigeons and avoiding germs. Seifer, who teaches psychology at Community College of Rhode Island, attributes Tesla's downfall partly to his megalomaniacal, neurotic, self-destructive tendencies, partly to a quagmire of litigation and also to his Faustian pact with his ambivalent benefactor, Wall Street financier J. Pierpont Morgan, to whom he relinquished control of several patents. Morgan, suggests Seifer, stymied Tesla's visionary scheme for a global, wireless power-distribution system because, if realized, it would jeopardize electrical, lighting and telephone monopolies. Seifer provides the fullest account yet of Tesla as an entrepreneur, experimental physicist and inventor. Photos.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Nikola Tesla is credited by many as the inventor of radio and should have received most of the credit for the development of modern electricity. Yet there is considerable confusion about his technical contributions and even more about his personal life. This book, by a professor of psychology at Bristol Community College and a member of the International Tesla Society, painstakingly documents Tesla's wide-ranging contributions. Born in Croatia, Tesla emigrated to the United States in 1884 and almost immediately began work on alternatives to what was then accepted as standard electrical technology. This brought him into conflict with Edison and later Westinghouse. The pattern of conflict continued for nearly 60 years, partially because Tesla was far ahead of his time, partially because he was erratic and off-beat, and partially because he was not an astute business partner. Seifer has analyzed extensive sources, many not previously used by other Tesla biographers, to provide a detailed interpretation of his life, but the fact that he also incorporates extensive handwriting analysis to arrive at several of his conclusions will certainly cause some reader concern. For larger science and biography collections.?Hilary Burton, Lawrence Livermore National Lab., Livermore, Cal.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
What kind of genius can fathom the mysteries of electromagnetism but cannot keep corporate lawyers from taking him to the cleaners? Perhaps because his life did not culminate in wealth and acclaim, Nikola Tesla has largely slipped from the national memory. Seifer's biography rescues him from oblivion, bringing back to life the amazingly creative intellect that gave us fluorescent lighting, wireless communication, cheap electrical power, and the remote control. But Seifer also resurrects the wounded, self-destructive personality who never recovered from the loss of a favored older brother and who spiraled into weird obsessions, mental collapse, and poverty as he watched other men use his inventions to win fame and riches. Seifer does an admirable job of explaining his subject's technical feats and analyzing his psychological idiosyncrasies. Tinged with pathos, this meticulously researched biography deserves attention from all who would understand the human tragedies played out in the shadows of our neon culture. Notes, appendix, and bibliography. Bryce Christensen
Customer Reviews
Wizard: I Still Don't Know Who Tesla Really Was
I was hoping this book would have delved into Tesla's inventions more thoroughly. I was very disappointed in this aspect of the book. The author totally glossed over the Niagara Falls project, which was a major part of Tesla's contribution to electrical distribution. The book spends too much time on Tesla's failed business dealings and with all the secondary people that he seemingly had contact with throughout his life. The organization of the book also is disconcerting at times. You finish one paragraph and then the next paragraph is about a completely different subject, person, topic, etc. with absolutely no transition or introduction.
I expected more from this book. I feel I still don't know who Tesla was or what exactly his inventions were and for a project that took 20 years of the author's life, it is still lacking in important details.
Wizard
This is a great read for anyone interested in matters of science. Nikola Tesla led an incredible life and it's told with an expert's flair. Don't miss this book, OR ELSE!
Tesla is to electronics as Gauss is to mathematics
Does this book deserve another review as the best book yet written on Tesla? Well, yes it does. Gauss virtually invented modern mathematics through visionary experiences in his early years. Some have said modern mathematics is just the reinvention of what Gauss forgot to write down. When we turn on the light switch we invoke a complex system of electronics virtually all of which was invented by Tesla in his early years and that was just the part he wrote down and people copied. The most interesting stuff has been buried by commercial and government interests and has yet to see the light of day. Some of it is still viewed as science fiction by professors of electrical engineering who should know better. Well, the book was given to me by an inventor as a favor for using a derivative of Tesla's work to help him with a very practical problem. So in return I salute all inventors, particularly Tesla who may be the greatest of them all.
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